Red Rock Layout Spires
As I began working again on our Red Rock desktop layout, I was looking through lots of online photos from iconic areas in the US such as Sedona, Arizona and the Colorado Plateau. These are such beautiful areas; I wanted to try to bring a bit more of this feel to our desktop layout. Building [...]
Z Scale Mini-Module Layouts
Is Z scale moving more towards the big, permanent layout model, the Z-Bend Track modular route or the smaller desktop layout approach? Maybe it’s just my own need to categorize things and Z scale is actually growing on all fronts. I don’t know how popular it would be but I’ve again been thinking about a [...]
Goodbye Milwaukee
I hated doing it, but the Milwaukee Road layout had to go. I never like giving up on a piece as I did earlier today and the short version is there was an issue with the track itself. On most layouts, these smaller desktop layouts included, I always add just a touch of superelevation, or [...]
Shinso Mizu by Norman Raven
In common with a number of our other exhibition layouts, Shinso Mizu is a consequence of the purchase by my wife, Meg, of an item of rolling stock which happened to have taken her eye. In this case it was a Z scale ProZ E231-500 series electric multiple unit of the Yamanote Line from our [...]
Trainini Magazine
Latest Issue: March 2013 Issue Trainini Magazine is a German language, monthly Z scale magazine in PDF format and it’s free! Hard to beat that. Each issue link will open in a new window for easy reading. Don’t worry if you don’t read German (but good for you if you do!) as the photos tell [...]
A Rock Outcrop Made With Water Putty
I came across some photos recently on TrainBoard in the HO section and enjoyed these images so much I contacted the model builder, Michael Cawdrey of Brisbane, Australia, and asked if he’d write an article for us here at Ztrains. I was really taken with Michael’s groundwork but what I didn’t know at the time [...]
100 Z Scale Articles
As I responded to an online comment today here at Ztrains.com, I noticed our recent Marklin article was actually our 100th article since we went live with this Ztrains.com redesign in 2011. This means we’re averaging an article per week, and while I don’t think we’ll be challenging Stephen King anytime soon for the most [...]
Where Is Marklin In 2013?
When many of us in this hobby think about small trains, Marklin and Z scale really are synonymous. In the past couple of years though, there were financial issues with Marklin including a 2009 insolvency filing in Göppingen, Germany. Companies (and countries) around the world had major financial issues after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, [...]
The WLE Track Plan
This material is a supplement to the Westphalian-Eisenbahn GmbH (WLE) article and track plan in the January | February 2013 issue of Ztrack Magazine. Recently I was talking with Rob Kluz of Ztrack Magazine about a railroad webcam in Germany featuring a crossing on the Westphalian-Eisenbahn GmbH (WLE) in Lippstadt, Germany. Rob decided to write [...]
Diesel Service Kit From Micron Art
There are of lots of reasons I like Z scale of course: the quality of the trains, the 1:220 size itself and not to be overlooked are the Z scale manufacturers and their constant desire to push the details. Here’s a great example of a manufacturer really putting their backs in to an upcoming release, [...]
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